NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, complete the signup form and join as a member. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. All entries shall become the property of CJFL. CJFL is not responsible for lost, misdirected or delayed entries.

The contest is open to the general public. Members need to be at least 18 years old. Identification must be produced on request. Employees of CJFL, its raffle sponsor, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective affiliates and associates and such employees' immediate family members and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are excluded from this raffle. ALL PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED MEMBERS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED INTO THIS RAFFLE.
The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.
Decisions of the raffle judges are final - no substitutions will be available.
By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness (first initial and last name) and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and in television or film releases, slides, videotape, distribution over the internet and picture date storage) which CJFL may deem appropriate.
In accepting the prize, the winner, acknowledges that CJFL may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using this prize.
CJFL retains the rights, in its absolute and sole discretion, to make substitutions of equivalent kind or approximate value in the event of the unavailability of any prize or component of the prize for any reason whatsoever.
This contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws.
CJFL reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this raffle at any time without prior notice.
One entry per person.

It is rare to find a single ‘smoking gun’ – a clearly identifiable cause – (to explain why a child regresses from the ‘inner circle’ of successful students to the ‘outer ring’ of uninspired learners, and perhaps even to those who r’l sink into the morass of at-risk behaviors. After all, there are a huge range of non-educational factors – parenting and social/emotional issues – that often play a significant role in a child’s success in school. Having said that, I think that we would all agree that we have a sacred obligation to reflect upon, and seek the counsel of our gedolim, as to the most effective way to be mechanech our children so that they all reach their fullest potential.

While much attention is focused on the teen years, when many at-risk children begin exhibiting symptoms of distress, I strongly feel that in many instances the slide began far earlier, when children failed to acquire the basic skills they desperately need to achieve success. In order to illustrate the point, please permit me to present the following scenario:

Imagine that you received an offer from a generous benefactor to head a group of kollel yungerleit in learning the writings of the Rambam in their original Arabic over a period of ten years. You would love to take the assignment, but there is one slight problem. You don’t understand a word of Arabic. Your prospective donor tells you not to worry. He informs you that he is confident that you will master the language and bring new insight to the timeless works of the Rambam.

Assuming that you accepted the offer, how would you go about designing the ten-year program?

Well, there are basically two paths that you could choose. One would be to take the strategic route. You would designate significant blocks of time at the onset to carefully and methodically study the language of Arabic. After all, how could you possibly understand the basic text of the Rambam’s works, let alone the nuances of his every word without a thorough understanding of the language? You would look high and low for the best Arabic-English dictionary money could buy and keep it at your side at all times.

Perhaps you would consult with an expert in learning foreign languages. You might be advised to proceed slowly, as learning a foreign tongue is often frustrating – and there is significant danger of ‘burnout,’ if you progress too quickly at the beginning of the program. Additionally, you may decide to set a long-term goal of mastery of all topics that the Rambam draws on regularly in his writings – Chumash, Halacha and all portions of Nevi’im and Kesuvim.

There is a second and far simpler route that you could take. You can simply jump in headlong and begin reading the Rambam’s classic Morei Nevuchim (Guide to the Perplexed; a very deep and difficult philosophical sefer written by the Rambam) in Arabic the very first day. As far as the language barrier – no big deal! You figure that you will pick up Arabic as you go along. After all, you are a bright fellow and you already speak Hebrew, English and Yiddish. It can’t be difficult to learn another language, can it? You figure that the longer you keep at it, you will just get better and better at Arabic.

Reading these lines, which of the two programs described above do you think will result in a greater chance for success? The first or the second? The slow-and-steady approach or the ready-or-not-here-I-come one? Who do you think will reach the finish line first – let alone healthy and well adjusted – the tortoise or the hare?

Well, if you think about it, our pre-teen sons are in a very similar situation to that of the fictional program described above. Our sons have a ten-year ‘fellowship’ program, during which we hope that they will master the intricacies and timeless beauty of gemorah. However, in order to achieve that objective, they will need to learn to read a new language – Aramaic – without nekudos (punctuation). The best way to achieve that lofty goal is a question of approach and methodology. What type of program will allow our children to thrive and reach the finish line having mastered, appreciated, and developed a lifelong love for gemorah and learning? A slow, skill-based, balanced approach or a hurry-up program that will teach them “a lot” but not that well?

This is not a ‘new’ discussion. Read through the writings of the Maharal and others on this topic and you will discover that they suggested a methodical and systematic approach to mastery of Tanach and gemarah hundreds of years ago. (More on this in the next column.)

In these challenging times, when not “making it” in Yeshiva translates into squandered childhoods, unrealized potential, and often a complete abandonment of Yiddishkeit, we would do well to make a serious communal cheshbon hanefesh and decide if the hora’as sha’a (extenuating circumstances) of the climate nowadays mandates that we slow down the pace a bit and properly prepare our children with the skills they will need to succeed.

Kids don’t drop out in 10th grade. They fall behind in the fifth and sixth grades. And they never catch up.

Subscribe to this Article(by subscribing you will receive email notificationwhen new comments are posted)

There are no comments yet. Click above to write the first comment.

Dear Readers:

Please visit our Parenting Resource listing to learn about agencies and services that you can make use of. If you know of an agency that can be of assistance to others, kindly drop an email to our site administrator at admin@RabbiHorowitz.com and pass along the information to him.

I ask that you please consider supporting the work we are doing to improve the lives of our children. Click on these links to learn more about our teen and parent mentoring program that serves hundreds of teens and their families, or our KESHER program, now in 20 schools in 4 states. Your financial support can allow us to expand these services and help more children.

If you believe in the governing principles of this website – to help effect positive change through the candid discussions of the real issues we collectively face, please consider becoming a daily, weekly or monthly sponsor of this website and help defray the costs of it’s maintenance.